All money paid into the City Treasury shall be credited to and kept in separate funds in accordance with the provisions of the Charter, ordinance or other applicable law. In addition to funds established elsewhere in the Charter for departments controlling their own funds, the following funds are hereby established: General Fund, Reserve Fund, and bond funds, interest funds, sinking funds, trust funds and other funds as may be required by law or ordinance.
(a) The General Fund is established as a medium of control of and accounting for municipal activities other than activities authorized or contemplated by special funds. All revenues and receipts which are not by law or Charter pledged or encumbered for special purposes shall be credited to the General Fund.
(b) The Reserve Fund shall include funding for unanticipated expenditures and revenue shortfalls in the City's General Fund. It shall include two accounts within the fund, the Contingency Reserve Account and the Emergency Reserve Account.
(1) Contingency Reserve Account: The Contingency Reserve Account shall include all monies in the Reserve Fund over and above the amount required to be allocated to the Emergency Reserve Account pursuant to subsection (b)(2) of this Section.
(2) Emergency Reserve Account Allocation: The City Council shall annually allocate an amount to the Emergency Reserve Account of the Reserve Fund that shall bring the balance in that account to not less than two and three-fourths (2 3/4) percent of all General Fund receipts anticipated for that fiscal year in the adopted budget.
(3) Accessing Reserve Fund:
(i) The Contingency Reserve Account will be the source of additional funding needed as a result of unanticipated expenditures and revenue shortfalls. The City Council shall, by ordinance, establish policies for the use of the Contingency Reserve Account.
(ii) Transfers from the Emergency Reserve Account of the Reserve Fund shall require approval by a two-thirds vote of the City Council with the concurrence of the Mayor, or, in the event of a Mayoral veto, by a three-fourths vote of the City Council. Concurrent with the transfer, the City Council shall make a finding of urgent economic necessity. The basis on which a finding of urgent economic necessity may be made includes, but shall not be limited to, a significant economic downturn after the budget is adopted, a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, civil unrest, or other significant unanticipated events requiring the expenditure of General Fund resources.
(4) Restoration of Emergency Reserve Account: Except as provided in subsection (b)(5), whenever the City utilizes monies in the Emergency Reserve Account pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(ii) of this Section, the City shall, in the subsequent fiscal year, restore to the Emergency Reserve Account the amount expended therefrom as part of the annual allocation required by this Section to bring the balance in that account to not less than two and three-fourths (2 3/4) percent of all General Fund receipts anticipated for that fiscal year in the adopted budget.
(5) Suspension of Emergency Reserve Account Restoration: In the event of a catastrophic event which requires use of the Emergency Reserve Account spanning more than one fiscal year, the City Council may, by a two-thirds vote with the concurrence of the Mayor or, in the event of a Mayoral veto, by a three-quarters vote, temporarily suspend the requirements of subsection (b)(4) herein; provided, however, that concurrent with the action of the City Council to suspend the requirement, the City Council adopts findings detailing the necessity for continued access to the Emergency Reserve Account and setting forth a date on which the requirements of Section (b)(4) shall be reinstated. Transfers of funds from the Emergency Reserve Account during the time to which the suspension of the requirement to restore such monies applies shall not be required to be restored.
(6) Temporary Transfers: Nothing herein shall prohibit temporary transfers of funds from the Contingency Reserve Account or Emergency Reserve Account as otherwise authorized by City Charter Section 340.
(7) Nothing herein shall be construed as applying to, or limiting, the provisions of Charter Section 231(i) or any other provisions of this Charter, State statute or City ordinance relative to Emergency Declarations.
(c) A Budget Stabilization Fund shall be established by ordinance within the City Treasury. Requirements for funding and transfers or expenditures to be made therefrom shall be established by ordinance.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Charter Amendment P § 1, approved March 8, 2011, effective April 8, 2011.